Reptile Revue

Hi! I’m Carl the Chameleon! I’m the professor of reptile and amphibian studies here at the University! My home island is the famous island of Madagascar. Most of my chameleon relatives call it home too. Did there are some chameleons are teeny tiny! Reptiles include snakes, turtles/tortoises and lizards. Amphibians include frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and sirens.

Let’s learn some reptile basics first and then more about our amphibian friends.

There are around 7,984 reptile species on earth. Reptiles first appeared on earth around 340 million years ago. The largest group of reptiles is lizards. You can find us on most continents except Antarctica. You can even find some of us in the worlds’ oceans.

What makes a reptile a reptile?

We are covered in scales.

We lay eggs.

We are ectothermic.

We have lungs for breathing.

We are vertebrates.

Our scales cover our epidermis and they are made of keratin. When we grow we shed our scales. Some of us do this in pieces and some of us, like snakes- shed their whole layer at once.

Turtles, tortoises, crocodiles and most lizards have movable eyelids. Snakes have a fixed clear eye covering that they shed when they grow too.

Most reptiles have poor hearing and none of us can taste.

Snakes and some lizards have a forked tongue that they “smell” with. They pick up scent molecules with their tongue and use an organ in their brain called the Jacobson’s organ to analyze those molecules.

Most reptiles lay their eggs and leave them. They provide no parental care for their young. There are some reptiles that incubate their eggs inside their body and give birth to live young. The crocodilian family and a few lizards to protect their eggs and young.

Amphibians

Now let’s talk some about our amphibian friends.

There are around 5,000 species of amphibians. They have been around for 370 million years. There are three groups of amphibians; newts/salamander, frogs/toads and caecilians.

The word amphibian means dual life. They live a life in the water (usually as young) and then on land (usually as adults).

What makes an amphibian an amphibian?

We are ectothermic.

We are vertebrates.

We breathe through our skin.

We go through metamorphosis. We do not look the same as young as we do as adults.

Amphibian young use gills to breathe. Young frogs and toads are called tadpoles and they have tails and no legs.

We have no scales and no hair. Our skin can absorb water and we need water to keep it moist, this helps us breathe. We all have poison glands in our skin!

Adult amphibians have lungs, but we do not have rib cages. We can also absorb oxygen through our skin and through the lining of our mouth.

Most amphibians deposit eggs in water. We can lay anywhere from 2 to 50,000 eggs.